Chapter One: Submerged

Lark watches Jamie Merrick’s car sink into Scituate Reservoir after a high-speed pursuit ends in a T-bone crash. Concussed and bleeding, she avoids calling Ethel and instead phones her stepfather, who gives her a Leviathan cleanup code with strict no-names instructions and demands check-in texts.

While waiting, Lark removes identifying items from her Escalade and recalls baiting Merrick online as “Gemma,” intending to execute him roadside but settling for the theatrical lake. A vintage car arrives: a masked, muscular diver demands the code, brusquely assesses her concussion, and searches for debris, provoking Lark with curt judgments.

Conor, his masked partner, appears; the diver shields Lark instinctively at the surprise, then confiscates her gun. The men assume it was an accident; Lark hides the truth to protect her family. After gearing up, the diver retrieves Merrick’s body; together they wrap and load it, plan to return with a boom truck, and tow Lark’s SUV.

The diver condemns Lark as a careless princess relying on cleaners; she fires back, but he insists she ride hidden in his trunk to avoid witnesses. Panicking, she begs; he refuses and shuts her in. During the drive, Lark creates a racket, then quietly uses a guitar whammy bar to pop the vintage latch.

On a slow turn, Lark slips out, injures a knee, and melts into the dark, walking away in the opposite direction as the car departs—determined, anonymous, and unrepentant.